. >> remember ronald reagan talking about jimmy carter, are you better off now than you were four years ago. >> no. >> you want to know whether we're better off, i have a little bumper sticker for you, osama bin laden is dead and general motor social security alive. >> we wanted to know how people feel about that question and how the nation is faring four years after president oe -- obama took officer. >> reporter: it is a very simple question but the answer can be complicated. we first put the question to uc berkeley economist silvia alegreto. >> are we better off in terms of jobs today as we were in january of 09 or sometime around there i think the answer is unequivocally yes. because instead of jobs being in free fall, we're actually creating jobs. >> reporter: the un unemployment is slightly better. the stock market was worth half and the auto industry was in collapse. yet many are still out of work. >> we're coming out of the hole much much too slowly. we're climbing out but we're still about 1 million jobs short of when the economy collapsed in 2007. >> are you better off now tha